‘I’m not going away,’ says Keir Starmer despite defence secretary’s exit | Keir Starmer
Keir Starmer said he knew he needed to “turn things around” after a series of crises that culminated in the resignation of defense secretary John Healey, but warned any successor would face the same difficult decisions.
In an interview with the BBC following Healey’s successive departures over defense spending, Starmer again vowed to fight off any leadership challenge from Andy Burnham or others, saying: “I’m not going away.”
He also suggested that if Burnham were to replace him at number 10, there would be almost identical pressures and difficult decisions for him, given the state of international conflict and the resulting economic impacts.
Starmer said: “I can kindly say: whoever becomes prime minister will face the same prevailing winds that I face. None of that will change.”
In his scathing resignation letter on Thursday, Healey accused Starmer of putting the country’s security at risk, failing to stand up to Chancellor Rachel Reeves and failing to make faster progress on his upcoming defense investment plan (Dip) to spend at least 3.5% of GDP on defense by 2035.
Armed Forces Minister Al Carns also resigned. Speaking to the BBC on Friday morning, Carns accused the government of not spending enough money on the military and on the wrong weapons.
With Burnham increasingly expected to win next Thursday’s Makerfield by-election and return to Westminster, many Labor MPs think a leadership battle is imminent. This could also include former health minister Wes Streeting, who left Starmer’s government last month following Labour’s disastrous election results.
Asked if he would lead Labor at the next general election, Starmer replied: “Yes, that’s what I want to do. I realize I need to turn things around. We’ve had a very bad election season.”
Asked if he was aware he was in danger, the Prime Minister replied: “Look, given the situation we’re in, I realize I need to turn the tables and that’s what I want to do.”
Earlier on Friday, Starmer met with new defense secretary Dan Jarvis and defense chief Richard Knighton to discuss the Dip, which was planned for this week but was postponed due to a row over spending totals.
Asked when it would arrive, a No 10 spokesman said only that “work is continuing to finalize the Dip at the pace of the new defense secretary.” They refused to say whether Jarvis had any knowledge of the actual sums promised or whether he sought any guarantees before accepting the assignment.
Starmer told the BBC the plan “will be published before the NATO summit” in Ankara early next month. This was the deadline for the document to be published, indicating that a change of defense minister could cause new delays.
The Prime Minister said he had observed “the largest sustained increase in defense spending since the 1980s”, adding that every government department was making cuts to non-frontline spending to help fund the Dip.
He criticized the idea that balancing such decisions is simple. “Many people, mostly sitting outside government, give the impression that there are a lot of easy decisions to be made. There is no such thing as an easy decision.”
He added: “Decisions in government involve trade-offs, so those decisions always have to come with the second question: ‘Well, if you’re going to do this, what’s one thing you won’t do?'”
Asked if he would fight any leadership challenges, Starmer said: “Look, I’m not going to go. I don’t think we should throw the country into the chaos of a leadership election.”
He added: “I don’t think it should happen, but if it does, I will fight. And let me tell you clearly: this is not about personal arrogance, it is not about stubbornness. It comes from a very deep sense of duty.”
